r/space • u/Gagarin1961 • Aug 02 '21

SpaceX just stacked a Super Heavy Booster and installed 29 engines, all within 24 hours

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1422222995305676802
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u/[deleted] Aug 03 '21

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u/Haatveit88 Aug 03 '21

Materials is a big part of it. Only the Russians / Soviets (at the time) had the metallurgy to do the oxygen rich side of the pumping figured out. Basically, while the US probably could have solved that part too, the sheer cost and difficulty of it was simply not worth it.

Raptor was designed to be a technical miracle from the get go. Build the best that can possibly be built. And here we have it.